General Motors took nearly a decade to investigate problems and deadly crashes associated with faulty switches in several of its compact cars, according to the company's own filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. On Tuesday, GM recalled another 748,024 cars in the U.S. dating back to 2003, less than two weeks after recalling 778,562 Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 models. The cars have ignition switches that can loosen and cause the key to accidentally twist into the accessory or off positions, thereby disabling the engine and power assists for the steering and brakes. GM said it found eight more crashes and seven more fatalities that were related to the defect, for a total of at least 13 deaths and 31 crashes.
The automaker said it first discovered the problem around the Cobalt's launch in November 2004. Several months later, GM said several Cobalts were reportedly "losing engine power, including instances in which the key moved out of the run position when a driver inadvertently contacted the key or steering column." By December 2005, GM issued a technical service bulletin—a dealer handout meant to address non-critical repair issues when cars come in for service—for the 2005–2006 Cobalt and Canadian-market Pontiac Pursuit, 2006 Chevrolet HHR, 2006 Pontiac Solstice, and the 2003–2006 Saturn Ion. GM updated the bulletin in October 2006 to include 2007 models including the then-new Saturn Sky and Pontiac G5.
In its own words, GM blamed the problem on short drivers and heavy keychains. Owners, GM said, should "take steps to prevent it—such as removing nonessential items from their keychain." That same stance was repeated in GM's actual recall earlier this month.
While the bulletin provided a fix in the form of a smaller key-ring insert that was supposed to keep the key in place, only 474 cars received the fix. Unlike an actual recall, a technical service bulletin is only a suggested advisory to the dealer, who can fix the problem at its own discretion whether or not the owner is even aware.
GM signed off on a revised ignition switch in 2006 and said it wasn't aware of any fatal crashes until NHTSA informed the company in March 2007. Committee after subcommittee later, we fast-forward to 2014 and finally have a recall.
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With that wide gap, GM could face a federal fine—as Toyota did four times between 2010 and 2012—for failing to address safety concerns in enough time. In a statement, the NHTSA said it was reviewing the "timeliness of GM's identification of the vehicle safety defect" and would "take appropriate action as warranted." That NHTSA knew of the problem in 2007 and did not ever initiate a recall, however, calls some of its own credibility into question.
In many recall cases, it's not uncommon for automakers to spend one to three years addressing safety problems either internally or with the cooperation of the NHTSA. Blame it on corporate red tape, the complexity of reverse-engineering and analyzing traffic accidents, the back-and-forth communication with the Feds, and the ultimate goal of preventing a costly recall that generates negative headlines. Automakers could do better to prioritize customer safety, but 10 years comes across as negligent by anyone's standard.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27
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